CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Kingsville Independent School District hosted their State of the District luncheon Tuesday inside their FEMA dome.
Before things kicked off, the biggest topic of conversation among most people was school safety.
"My opinion, we have to make sure we put officers in our schools,” Kleberg County Sheriff Richard Kirkpatrick said. “We have to go in there and put those armed officers in there. That's critical at this point."
Some stated that coming together as a community wasn't just an option, but a call to action.
"Right now is the time to target it. Right now is the time to come together as a community and work together with J.M. Lozano and our legislature and ensure the safety of our students before they step back in any one of our schools,” Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid said.
State Representative J.M. Lozano was in attendance at the luncheon and is the chairman of a select state committee called Youth, Health and Safety.
"We have a plethora of bills to file addressing the mental health of our youth. There is clearly an epidemic,” Lozano said. “It was an epidemic before the shooting. This just strengthens our resolve really for all of us to come together in the legislature, regardless of party, and pass something meaningful."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said mass shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas, happened because of mental health issues. 3News asked Lozano about the governor's recent cut of $211 million from Texas Health and Human Services.
"Not just that must be restored completely, we must add to that because we are behind. We are behind in state funding for mental health needs,” Lozano said.
Lozano said everything is on the table right now when it comes to making our schools safe.
"Everything is going to be talked about,” Lozano said. “In our committees everything is going to be discussed by academics, by first responders, by teachers and counselors, by parents. We're going to take testimony from everyone on every subject. We have to act on behalf of our youth and I say that as a father."
Lozano said lawmakers have an obligation and took an oath to protect our children and that's what he plans on doing.
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